Welcome to DBSTalk

Welcome to DBSTalk. Our community covers all aspects of video delivery solutions including: Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS), Cable Television, and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). We also have forums to discuss popular television programs, home theater equipment, and internet streaming service providers. Members of our community include experts who can help you solve technical problems, industry professionals, company representatives, and novices who are here to learn.

Like most online communities you must register to view or post in our community. Sign-up is a free and simple process that requires minimal information. Be a part of our community by signing in or creating an account. The Digital Bit Stream starts here!

I searched and could not find an answer, hence the post.
Have an HR21/200 on 0x62c and just had my setup reinstalled by DTV in June 2012 (dish on roof, cabling into home, etc.). Have been experiencing a problem for weeks now (I'm not a big TV person just a Sunday Ticket whore). I typically only watch something I've recorded and noticed lots of shows were appearing in the "made recordings" list but didn't actually record (it records black screen then asks you to keep or delete in mere seconds after playing the recording). OK, I'm thinking something physical is the culprit-- a cable, lnb, the DVR.

Get on the phone with DTV, run all the cable swaps in the back of the DVR, etc. (std CSR troubleshooting). I'm told I'm defined in DTV's DB as a SWM system, but I am not a SWM system. In conjunction with the 0x62c update could I be experiencing problems with this new configuration (software related)? Just coincidence that I have this new update and my troubles surface? Or do I more likely have a physical problem (dish alignment, bad cable, bad lnb, etc.)? I just cannot believe just 6 months after a brand new setup I need a tech visit! (and it's a long sad story why I needed the June 2012 reinstall -- roof leak)

Dash button only indicates a receiver # and that I'm connected to the internet.

System test indicates a code of 42-898. Which we also identified on the earlier CSR call.

I really just want to know whether or not it's possible that software or a DVR failure can be the culprit.

Perhaps I should ask just how frequently should I require a dish realignment? Clearly the HD stuff is far more sensitive than the SD (been with the service since '97 in 2 different states). Every 6 months? Every year? I do live pretty darn close to the Atlantic, so we get our fair share of wind here, and my dish sits on the roof 2-stories up (and it's right on the northwest edge of the roof's corner with nothing shielding it).

A properly installed and aligned dish should never need realignment under normal circumstances. A hurricane is certainly not normal, but wind gusts of 60 or 70 MPH should not be a problem.

However, you may need an alignment. Check your satellite signal strength screen and pay particular attention to the various 99 and 103 satellite screens (some take a long time to get readings, be patient). Most transponders should be in the 90's, some in the mid or upper 80's. If you have significant number below that, you may very well need alignment.

However, I would not suspect dish alignment relative to your symptoms. Could be a failing DVR.

Basically I have lost the ability to record one channel while watching a different channel at the same time. Yet, last Sunday morning I was playing a show back and decided to test out if things might have changed, and discovered much to my chagrin that I automagically regained the ability to record 2 different shows at the same time and watch a 3rd previously recorded show, but it was gone in the evening when I checked again to see if my "record 2 channels at same time" test shows recorded properly (they didn't after a number of hours, though some did earlier in the day). I thought some overnight update reset me back to normalcy. Then undid itself. But this seems highly implausible. And it was kind of windy that Sunday morning, too.

But I did have my 75 minute CSR troubleshooting phone call the previous Friday. So it makes one wonder. If being defined by DirecTV as a SWM system in their DB, in conjunction with a newish firmware update might have messed up my DVR? Does anyone for certain know if this is completely implausible? I used to work for IBM and I know firsthand that little details missed along with blind assumptions can give birth to unforeseen problems.

I, too, do not believe if my dish needed realignment I would for a second have the full capabilities working properly last Sunday morning. It also seems odd for the culprit to be non-software-related or DVR-related given the June 2012 reinstall (and I know the people doing it were top notch because I was pissed about my roof leaking where the dish had been but that's a long story about roofers installing the dish after a new roof installed years back, and DirecTV was not the cause of the leak, but still...., a leak, and a 2-story ceiling stained under the roof leak that had been painted by pros I paid mere months prior! But I digress..).

I read in another post to take Tuner 1 and Tuner 2 transponder readings then swap the 2 input cables on the rear of the DVR and retake the readings.

At 9:30 a.m. this morning I observed for Tuner 1:
101: All 97+ readings on all odd transponders from 1-32, All 0s for even transponders
110: All 0s
119: T23=97 T25=95 T27, T29, T31 = 96
99c: All odd Transponders in the range of 89-95
99s: T5=95 T15=74 T19=74 T21=97 T23=79
103s: All 0s
103ca: All 0s
103cb: All 0s